Planning to get busted for swearing in MB? This radio station will cover the fine

Planning to get arrested for swearing in Myrtle Beach? A local radio station is prepared to cover your fine.

Local rock station 96.1 KZQ is running a promotion Friday and Saturday where you can sign up for a chance to win $500 to cover the maximum fine for the misdemeanor of violating the city’s lewd or profane language ordinance.

“We’re going to give someone $500, so if they get busted with a fine, they can pay to get out of it,” said Dicks Broadcasting Company Myrtle Beach manager Charlie Steele.

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He said people on social media were making fun of Myrtle Beach’s ordinance, claiming that you couldn’t cuss in Myrtle Beach, after The Sun News first reported it Saturday.

“We were ‘like let’s have some fun with this, they’re all poking fun at it so let’s have some fun with ourselves,’” Steele said, adding that he didn’t think the person chosen for the $500 would actually get arrested.

“We do understand the point of the law, but I don’t think anyone’s going to get popped for dropping an ‘F-bomb’ in the middle of the boulevard,” Steele said. “If they did, the jails would be full.”

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Steel said he thought people on social media were misunderstanding the ordinance. The Sun News reported that a person would be in violation if they were using the words to “provoke a violent reaction from another person” or if the words were “fighting words.”

“Really the whole point of the law is to keep people from getting in fights,” Steele said. “If a cop hears you saying ‘This hot dog tastes like sh*t,’ I don’t think anyone is going to get arrested.”